The switch to dslr..

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Richie_rich

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After doing a vast amount of research before making the move from point and shoot, I was under no illusion that the change would be tricky!

However, I bought a Nikon d3100 and a book which I've read cover to cover. I can't help but feel disappointed in the image quality I'm getting. Even when it's on auto, it's still nowhere near as crisp as my point and shoot. Granted I'm little more than a beginner but I do seem to understand the basic concepts and I've used the camera for hours now without anything particularly spectacular to show for it. Also, it seems that you need a tripod to get the best pics as any slight wobble seems to ruin the image quality.
 
A lot of people who move over to DSLRs from compacts do find the initial image quality disappointing. You're expecting too much too early - people take months and years to produce really spectacular photos, if you've only been using it for a few hours expect more practice ahead of you.

WRT to the slight wobbles, what sort of shutter speeds are you using?
 
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Post a few images up on here and people will be able to point you in the right direction.
 
Also check youve got all your settings (resolution?) set to the best.

And blurry pics will most likely be slow shutter speeds
 
The d3100 is capable of great shots. Check out my Flickr photos, all taken on my d3100.

I've never used the auto modes as I found it set the shutter speed to low and I lost sharpness due to camera motion etc.

Turn off auto ISO, set the fn button as the ISO button.

Then play around in shutter mode and aperture mode. Start in shutter mode with a shutter speed of around 1/200 and adjust the ISO so it is exposed correctly and see how the photos come out.

Then play lots and lots
 
I would say don't expect your photos to get better just by moving to a DLSR. If anything, expect them to get worse when you switch to any new camera. Take lots of shots, and learn the basics. I would say if you've switched to a DSLR and you've already had a point and shoot, you want more freedom (as I did), so use Aperture, Shutter, or Manual mode, manual focus to learn these modes and learn to take better photos.

Post a few photos you've taken and maybe we can help you and point out where you're going wrong :)
 
Interesting replies, thanks for that. Some uploads to come shortly. Like I said I knew it would be a difficult switch. I'll keep at it!
 
AllFallD0wn said:
I would say don't expect your photos to get better just by moving to a DLSR. If anything, expect them to get worse when you switch to any new camera. Take lots of shots, and learn the basics. I would say if you've switched to a DSLR and you've already had a point and shoot, you want more freedom (as I did), so use Aperture, Shutter, or Manual mode, manual focus to learn these modes and learn to take better photos.

Post a few photos you've taken and maybe we can help you and point out where you're going wrong :)
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All of this is brilliant advice except the manual focus part. Don't let the camera choose a focus point, select that manually. But modern DSLRs we're not designed with manual focus in mind, they are simply unsuitable.

If you have a full frame DSLR and invest in a quality focussing screen you'll end up with something close to a proper manual focus slr. But a consumer camera and lens is not up to it.:(
 
Phil V said:
All of this is brilliant advice except the manual focus part. Don't let the camera choose a focus point, select that manually. But modern DSLRs we're not designed with manual focus in mind, they are simply unsuitable.

If you have a full frame DSLR and invest in a quality focussing screen you'll end up with something close to a proper manual focus slr. But a consumer camera and lens is not up to it.:(
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Any tips on choosing focus point, but not MF? I have no idea about this.. :thinking:
 
Set the af mode to single point. You can then after pushing the shutter button part way down you can use the directional buttons to choose which point to focus with.
 
Small sensored cameras have larger depth of field so you can get away with mis-focussing more than with a dslr as it generally doesn't matter as just about everything in a shot is in focus-ish.

With a dslr the shallower depth of field there's more of a chance of it looking off.

I found program mode and aperture priority using centre point focus was easiest. Full auto means the camera chooses focus points and it can sometimes pick completely the wrong thing.

I moved from a bridge camera and for a while dslr photos were worse. Keep at it. They get better.
 
Compact DOF is not just larger, it's gargantuan. Even an LX5 with it's f2 lens = F11ish on Full frame, which makes it fantastic as a snapshot camera as I don't need flash in low light. I can't get similar results from an SLR, digital or otherwise.

It's something you'll get used to, and shallow depth of field is a very useful creative tool once you've got the hang of it.

You'll also find the image processors behave differently, there'll most likely be a very high level of contrast adjustment, sharpening and noise reduction on a compact camera image even without you specifying it, which won't be present on a more serious camera. You'll need to get used to that as well.
 
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Richie_rich said:
After doing a vast amount of research before making the move from point and shoot, I was under no illusion that the change would be tricky!

However, I bought a Nikon d3100 and a book which I've read cover to cover. I can't help but feel disappointed in the image quality I'm getting. Even when it's on auto, it's still nowhere near as crisp as my point and shoot. Granted I'm little more than a beginner but I do seem to understand the basic concepts and I've used the camera for hours now without anything particularly spectacular to show for it. Also, it seems that you need a tripod to get the best pics as any slight wobble seems to ruin the image quality.
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I'm in very much the same position myself, i bought a d5100 back in july and am disillusioned with the whole dslr concept. I have bought books, signed up to magazines and read hundreds of online articles and still cant seem to get anywhere near the quality of some of the photos i see on here and other places. I am going to kenya in 4 weeks time for my honeymoon including 4 days on safari and dont know whether to take the nikon or my 6 year old olympus bridge camera.:bang:
 
There's no substitute for going out and practising. The more you go out, take photos, get irritated and work out how to do it better next time the more you will improve.

There are decent courses that might help. The going digital ones are quite good. I did their low light one and found it very useful. They do a how to use your dslr course.

The 10,000 hours to mastery isn't wrong. You do just have to keep taking photos and learning what to do better next time.

I'd probably take both cameras on safari as that way you have a spare if an elephant steals one of them...
 
The quality that you are seeing and expecting may well be done in PP although saying that I found a DSLR to give much better IQ within minutes of using it. My shots won't be up to the quality seen elsewhere but they will be better quality than if I had used a P+S.

Need to ask whether a DSLR is actually required though. I don't use one outside of the house as can't be bothered to lug it around and it is too conspicuous (street photography) but I do miss the quality for the better shots I capture (very rare!) as I know there would be made even better.
 
phil_b said:
I'm in very much the same position myself, i bought a d5100 back in july and am disillusioned with the whole dslr concept. I have bought books, signed up to magazines and read hundreds of online articles and still cant seem to get anywhere near the quality of some of the photos i see on here and other places. I am going to kenya in 4 weeks time for my honeymoon including 4 days on safari and dont know whether to take the nikon or my 6 year old olympus bridge camera.:bang:
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Take both, if you're confident with the bridge camera and don't feel completely comfortable with the DSLR.
 
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